European Perceptions Of Plan Colombia A Virtual Contribution To A Virtual War And Peace Plan

Professor Joaquin Roy, a Spaniard with valuable sources throughout Europe, notes that Europeans apparently do not approve of the seeming U.S. emphasis on providing military equipment and training to Colombia for a counternarcotics effort in what they see as a larger strategic political conflict. At the same time, he reports that Europeans are not only concerned with the counternarcotics violence in Colombia, but also with the economic, security, and political spillover effects for neighboring countries. Finally and logically, the author reflects the European concern that whatever contribution that might be made to Plan Colombia will likely be lost in the violence of a U.S.-led counternarcotics campaign.

This is another in the special series of monographs emanating from the February 2001 conference on Plan Colombia co-sponsored by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and The Dante B. Fascell North-South Center of the University of Miami. In this monograph, Joaquin Roy provides a European view of Plan Colombia. Professor Roy, a Spaniard with valuable sources throughout Europe, notes that Europeans apparently do not approve of the seeming U.S. emphasis on providing military equipment and training to Colombia for a counternarcotics effort in what they see as a larger strategic political conflict. At the same time, he reports that Europeans are not only concerned with the counternarcotics violence in Colombia, but also with the economic, security, and political spillover effects for neighboring countries. Finally and logically, Roy reflects the European concern that whatever contribution might be made to Plan Colombia will likely be lost in the violence of a U.S.-led counternarcotics...

Professor Joaquin Roy, a Spaniard with valuable sources throughout Europe, notes that Europeans apparently do not approve of the seeming U.S. emphasis on providing military equipment and training to Colombia for a counternarcotics effort in what they see as a larger strategic political conflict. At the same time, he reports that Europeans are not only concerned with the counternarcotics violence in Colombia, but also with the economic, security, and political spillover effects for neighboring countries. Finally and logically, the author reflects the European concern that whatever contribution that might be made to Plan Colombia will likely be lost in the violence of a U.S.-led counternarcotics campaign.

A necessary part of the study of Plan Colombia by the U.S. Army War College and the Dante B. Fascell North-South Center is the presentation of the European viewpoint concerning the Colombian dilemma. Professor Joaquin Roy of the University of Miami has synthesized for us the many facets of this complicated topic. In preparing this monograph, he combed through his excellent contacts in Brussels and in the major foreign ministries of the EU, as well as in hundreds of pages written on the subject. There is, in this valuable essay, a great deal of background and "off the record" opinion he has gleaned from European policymakers. It is often said that there is not just one Plan Colombia but, like the elephant to the blind men in the fable, it has several versions. I do not necessarily agree with this view, but different actors certainly have different points of emphasis. Of the $7.5 billion which Colombia has assigned to the plan, the $1.3 billion to be provided by the United States certainly emphasizes military equipment and training and counternarcotics, though not exclusively. Europe does not buy into that policy and is pessimistic as to the plan's potential success. The European Union is committed to provide $1 billion for economic and social programs, but the money is not flowing and there is considerable ambivalence among the member states in the European Parliament (which has taken an outright anti-Plan Colombia stance) and among different European politicians. In fact, Roy tells us, most Europeans do not like to express support for a Plan Colombia at all, seeing it as a U.S. military program, but prefer to say they are helping the "Peace Process." Even that sort of help is not without its skeptics, hence the subtitle to this monograph. Europe's "virtual contribution," many there feel, means that its aid will be dissipated in the violent solutions which come out of U.S. policy, perhaps devolving to mere humanitarian help to a wrecked country. What does Europe favor? Roy says that primary emphasis is on negotiation generally, but in Europe, as in the United States, there is a "struggle to design a joint [European] policy." Some countries are more interested in Colombia than others, clearly. Spain, in particular, has a huge economic stake in the region because of its investments; they are not much in Colombia but at risk in countries to which the Colombian violence could spill over. France, on the other hand, is a major investor in Colombia itself. Where is the European Union's position headed? Will Europe continue to dither and debate within itself? Roy believes that will be determined by the United States. Europe's role, he predicts, "could be enhanced and accorded more impetus" if the new Bush Administration adopts what Europeans see as "a more cautious policy" and a reorientation of the U.S. policy mix away from what they see as only a militaristic thrust. That could ultimately lead to a more productive U.S.-European partnership.

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This open access book provides a comprehensive analysis of the EU's crucial support for the implementation of the Havana Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP. It explores the use of new approaches and instruments that, despite some limitations and criticisms, could go beyond conventional liberal peace and provide useful lessons. Particular attention is paid to three axes: strengthening civil society, protection of human rights and a territorial peace perspective, as a contribution to the "local turn" in peace policies. The book first outlines the background of the conflict, the EU's two-decade defense of a negotiated peace, and the complexities of the peace process. Then, it analyses the development cooperation and political support provided in different areas: the collective reinsertion of ex-guerrillas, women and gender initiatives, the rights of ethnic communities, the sophisticated transitional justice system, as well as activities on reconciliation, victims and protection of human rights defenders.

"The Center for Preventive Action, a conflict prevention initiative of the Council on Foreign Relations, established the Andes 2020 Preventive Action Commission to develop concrete, pragmatic recommendations to broaden and strengthen U.S., international, and local engagement and coordination in the region, with an eye toward strategies that will help prevent the outbreak of major conflict and mitigate current levels of violence." --Book Jacket.

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